Supreme Delight

With Justice Clara and Victor Tukura

It’s not every day that you are invited to dinner at the home of a Supreme Court Justice. And perhaps it is even more unusual that she be a woman and committed Christian on top of that. That is just what happened to me a few days ago while on this ministry trip here in Nigeria.

Justice Clara Ogunbiyi is one of fifteen who sit on Nigeria’s Supreme Court. She came up through the ranks of this country’s judicial system and now has a couple years left before her required retirement at the age of seventy. But during that time she has also contributed her leadership gifts by serving on the boards of several Christian ministries. One of those is the Missions Supporters League (MSL), a group for which I’ve been offering some consulting help. So it was through Victor Tukura, MSL’s General Director, that this evening with Justice Clara was arranged.

Not knowing exactly what to expect, I was very pleasantly surprised to find this woman to be an extremely humble and approachable civil servant, as was her husband, Dr. B.E. Ogunbiyi, a practicing OBGYN here in Abuja, the Nigerian capital. Our table conversation ranged from discussing the current state of the “culture wars” in the United States to the challenges of Boko Haram for the current Nigerian government. It was on this later topic that Justice Clara really opened up. Due to the fact that her home was in Borno State, the very region Boko Haram has targeted, she gave many dramatic examples of how this terrorist group has impacted her people.

One story she told me, however, was unexpected. “As a result of the bold testimony of Christians in the face of these atrocities,” she said, “hundreds of local Muslims there are giving their heart to Christ.” She went on to tell of two young Christian brothers who, in front of a huge crowd, were told to recant their faith and embrace Islam “or else.” When the first young man refused, he was slaughtered immediately. Then they approached his brother with the same demand, thinking that witnessing his brother’s death would change his mind. He also refused and was also the immediate victim of Boko Haram’s savage cruelty. “It is exactly this kind of incredible dedication,” Justice Clara explained, “that has turned the hearts of so many Muslims in that region to Christ.

Leaving her home that evening made me more committed than ever to pray for our Nigerian brothers and sisters – whether facing a terrorist threat like Boko Haram or facing the challenges of nation-shaping decisions at the level of the Supreme Court.